Thanks! I hadn't heard that. I tried googling for more information, but all I could find was the show title. Ballroom Blitz. The (sarcastic) TV commentator called it Dancing With the Stars, without the stars.

No idea what that means, but I will be watching,at least at the beginning.

I was at Colorado Starball last weekend, and they were filming a new reality show which apparently will focus on pro-am competition, at least in some episodes. The TV people followed 2 pro-am couples competing in silver smooth on Saturday (they were also filming some stuff on Thursday and Friday, but I wasn't there). I have no idea what it will be called, or when it will be aired, but I think it will be on TLC channel. TV people were a nuisance, however. Everyone I talked to was happy to see them gone on Sunday.

interesting - so we are star material now eh? Where's my $1000000 contract..

I was at Colorado Starball last weekend, and they were filming a new reality show which apparently will focus on pro-am competition, at least in some episodes. The TV people followed 2 pro-am couples competing in silver smooth on Saturday (they were also filming some stuff on Thursday and Friday, but I wasn't there). I have no idea what it will be called, or when it will be aired, but I think it will be on TLC channel. TV people were a nuisance, however. Everyone I talked to was happy to see them gone on Sunday.

interesting - so we are star material now eh? Where's my $1000000 contract..

AFAIK, they didn't pay the couples anything. Reality TV people seem to think that everyone wants to be on TV and will do anything for it.

Maybe they're right. For some people, notoriety is pay enough. And don't forget the Honey Boo Boo phenomenon. For some people, a spot on a reality show is the key to stardom. Maybe that is a part of the reason why reality shows can be so unrealistic. Everybody is trying to make him/herself into a star.

Maybe. I'm not sure which criteria they used to pick the couples. The ams they picked were both under 36, dancing silver smooth, so they competed against one another. One of them was local to the event and brought a lot of friends and relatives to watch. Another was from West coast (not 100% sure on that), and I'm assuming she was close enough to TLC base of operations to send a crew to film her at her home location, or maybe they picked the local girl first, and then picked one of her competitors. FWIW, my pro suggested that we apply and we've done so, but they didn't pick us and in the end we were happy they didn't, because having a TV crew follow our every step (almost literally, I overheard one of the chosen girls telling someone on Sunday, after the TV people were done, that they wouldn't even let her take her mike off when she went to the bathroom!) would be a major PITA.

That's why they'd pick somebody else who'd charge them nothing. There are a lot of people out there who just want to be on TV at any cost. Kardashian, anyone?

I guess that, to me, the underlying question is whether ballroom on TV is really related to the success of dancesport at all.

A reasonable question - no doubt it raised awareness and I think it brought more people in. The question is how many stayed once the fad aspect wore off. Probably not many - but a few is better than none.

The problem with DWTS,IMV,is that it can mislead people into thinking that they're going to be good dancers in a few weeks.Hmm. Six weeks x a bunch of hours a day with a (n arguably) world class coach is not exactly a typical, affordable experience for most new ballroom recruits. Even if DWTS brought in a bunch of people, I wouldn't be surprised if the drop-out rate was higher than usual.

The biggest difference I've seen is that people who secretly admired ballroom before (such as all my middle aged girlfriends lol) now feel free to admire it publicly. One GF has had a mostly-shirtless picture of Maks on the wall in her office for years. She says it's because she loves his dancing. The six pack and the pectorals are just an added bonus.

The biggest difference I've seen is that people who secretly admired ballroom before (such as all my middle aged girlfriends lol) now feel free to admire it publicly. One GF has had a mostly-shirtless picture of Maks on the wall in her office for years. She says it's because she loves his dancing. The six pack and the pectorals are just an added bonus.

She's probably telling the truth - most women don't drool at beefcake really do they? I think a great dancer is far sexier....